Postmodern Narrative without Postmodern Conditions: Home-Made Modernism in Lu Xun’s Old Tales Retold

Abstract

Postmodernism arose in response to or in reaction against modernism in the West. Geo-culturally recognized as a Western phenomenon, it gradually spread its impact to third-world countries, which are, as a rule in modern times, on the receiving end. Since the arrival of Western literary theories, Chinese literary terms have gradually lost their currency. Nowadays, literary criticism in China cannot function properly if we cease to use Western terms like “realism,” “modernism,” “postmodernism,” and so on. The three terms cited supposedly appeared at different stages of development: realism first, modernism second, and then postmodernism. If a writer lives in a period in which realism is the dominant trend, his or her works will most likely be classified into a category with the label of realism, or its sister modes, naturalism and critical realism. This way of evaluation applies to the study of Lu Xun (1881–1936), father of modern Chinese literature. Since Lu Xun wrote his literary works in a historical period in which realism was the dominant mode, he has been regarded all along as a master of critical realism, despite the fact that many of his experimental works clearly violate the principles of realism. Although some scholars